Sedition to anthem: Many lives of ‘Azadi’ chants in India’s youth protests

New Delhi, India — Authorities dispatched workers early to New Delhi on the morning of July 26 to paint over the graffitied walls near the Jantar Mantar observatory.A day earlier, protests over an exam leak scandal, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), had led to the ousting of India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4India cracks down on protesters accused of ‘abusing’ Modilist 2 of 4‘Hi friends’: Modi’s curious campaign to win over Gen Zlist 3 of 4‘My father is in RSS’: India’s Gen Z confronts Modi-loving parents at homelist 4 of 4Indian PM Modi warns about left-wing activists in Independence Day speechend of listThe entry curve of the protest strip read: “#2026 Gen-Z REVOLUTION!!!”A man in his early twenties climbed a tree carrying a powerful loudspeaker and blasted a song. “Azadi, give me freedom! Azadi, give me freedom! Azadi, give me freedom!” The crowd followed the words, with their hands raised in the air.Azadi, translated as “freedom” in English, a popular hip-hop song from the Bollywood film Gully Boy, became the anthem of the student protests in one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nat...